Q & A on The Calvinist Claim That Salvation Conditioned on Faith Necessarily Implies Some Sort of Merited Contribution to Salvation

Here is the question as originally posed along with a break down interaction below:Full Question: "So, let me reason this way, If prevenient grace is given to everyone, and my neighbors resist it, so they are not brought to salvation (regeneration), and I don’t resist it, so I AM brought to salvation, then they merit …

Perseverance of the Saints: Thirteen Part Series

I thought it would be good to catalogue my series on perseverance into a single post for easy reference. After nearly sixteen years I think it still holds up pretty well. The only part I would probably change is my treatment of Romans 8:28-29 as I would now interpret that in accordance with the corporate …

An Arminian Response to the Calvinist Claim That Acts 4:27-28 Proves Compatibilism

Another passage Piper makes use of to demonstrate that God decrees sin is Acts 4:27, 28.  He quotes Edwards to make his point. The death of Jesus offers another example of how God’s sovereign will ordains that a sinful act come to pass. Edwards says, ‘The crucifying of Christ was a great sin; and as …

An Arminian Response to the Calvinist use of Genesis 50:20 as a Prooftext for Compatibilism

[Excerpt from John Piper on God Ordaining All Sin And Evil Part 1: An Arminian Response to Piper’s First “Question”] "Piper quotes numerous passages of Scripture that he believes support his contention that God controls all evil (natural, animal and moral).  It seems to me that all of these passages could just as well fit …

Addressing the Calvinist Claim That Being Dead in Sin Necessarily Implies That Regeneration Precedes Faith

We have a lot of material addressing and refuting this oft repeated Calvinist claim on the site, so I thought it would be good to archive them into a single post for easy reference:An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 1: What Does it Mean to be …

An Arminian Response to C. Michael Patton’s “The Ultimate Balanced Guide to Arminianism (From a Calvinist)”:The Good, The Bad, And The [Very] Ugly

You can find Patton's original post here I was referred to this recent post by C. Michel Patton and thought I would respond to it.  My comments can be found in-between sections of his post below: Definition of Arminianism Arminianism is a theological system developed by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609). It is a …

An Arminian Response to the Calvinist use of Isaiah 10:5-16 as a Proof Text for Compatibilism

[updated on 1/5/23] From an interaction with a Calvinist: Calvinist: Most Calvinists believe in a soft determinism called compatiblism [sic.]. This is clearly taught in Gen 50:20: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save …

Does Revelation 17:17 Teach That God Irresistibly Controls The Wills of Men to Evil?

Revelation 17:17: “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.” This is a passage that many Calvinists hold up as a proof text for determinism.  It is especially brought up …

Does Arminianism Imply That we Can Boast in Our Salvation Over Those Who do Not Believe?

Out of all the arguments for Calvinism, this is the one that I probably hear the most. It comes in a variety of forms but usually imagines two people under the influence of prevenient grace, suggesting that the one who responds positively should have some reason to boast over the one who did not. It …

An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 3: John Hendryx Concedes That it is a Plain “Fact” that Faith Precedes Regeneration

[You can find part one of this series here, and part two here] John Hendryx continues his response to the "synergist" visitor: Finally, your attempt to overturn the doctrine of total depravity relies entirely too much on the one biblical concept of "dead in sin" for the unbeliever. From my standpoint, if those texts which …

An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 2: Dead Reckoning

Continuing from Part 1... Hendryx begins his response to the visitor:  (John) Dear Brother ...You say, "monergists take the 'dead in sin' phrase too far" but, I would turn that around to say that you have relied entirely too much on what you believe to be the force of this ONE argument.... Here's why: ... …

The Transfer of Nonsense Principle (Concise Version)

I wrote an article some years back on the Transfer of Necessity Principle (TNP), an idea which some have used as an argument against free will. Looking back, my only real regret writing it was that it was too long, and probably inaccessible to someone who hasn't studied the issue. With that in mind, I purposed …

Does Arminian Theology Suggest That We Depend on Ourselves Instead of Christ for Salvation?

From the late R.C. Sproul's Ligonier Ministries we find a short article "praising" limited atonement by Richard Phillips.  For the purpose of this post we will be focusing in on a section that promotes a critique of Arminianism that has been common among Calvinists for a long time and has been expressed in many different …

Innate vs Self-Imposed Dependencies

Does God depend upon anything in creation? Everyone agrees that God has no need of things like food, water, shelter, rest, etc. We often refer to this as God’s aseity –His independence of His creation. So God has no innate need of these things, and is utterly self-sufficient. But can God take on a need …

Tackling Calvinist Errors on Omniscience & Aseity (Plus a Deductive Proof)

In our last post on Calvinists who talk past the debate, we handily disposed of the fallacious arguments of a Calvinist objector insists on misrepresenting the issue. He tries to salvage his rapidly-crumbling narrative with yet more proof that he is simply talking past what is being discussed without understanding it. Still Missing the Point I've been pretty …

Calvinist Debate: Talking Past the Argument

In reply to my post on Calvinism’s Inconsistencies on God’s Attributes, our dear objector has given us another demonstration of missing the point entirely. As is all too common when discussing theological issues, most 'cage-stage' Calvinists have a dreadful habit of trying to define what you believe for you rather than actually listening to or …